When art is too popular

Why is the most popular artist in Britain still shunned by its publicly funded galleries? Jack Vettriano - the self-taught Scottish painter of melancholily erotic encounters laced with a subliminal narratives - was worthy enough to have a South Bank Show devoted to him on Sunday.

But not only do galleries like the Tate in London and the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh shun his works, they were not even prepared to field someone to say why. Ask the Tate about the annual Turner show and words come tumbling out. But ask about Mr Vettriano and silence ensues. No one need shed tears. The former miner is now rich. The royalties on reproductions of The Singing Butler alone are reported to rake in £500,000 a year. It is the galleries that should be asking some serious questions.

It is not as if they are so full they cannot accommodate him. The Art Newspaper's global survey of visitors to galleries found that in 2003 Britain had none in the top 20 and only one (at 30) in the top 30. The justly acclaimed Tate Modern was 178th. This may be partly because UK galleries do not have the right kind of space for these big shows, but it may also be they do not have the right spread of shows. If Vettriano had had a retrospective it might have attracted thousands of people who had never been into a gallery who might make return visits. The galleries, if they had purchased some paintings, would have made a lot of money as his pictures have appreciated fast.

The proposition that Vettriano cannot be slotted into a spectrum of art that runs from Titian to Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas is just risible. Why Pop Art but not Popular Art? If the National Theatre can reinvent itself by staging popular musicals and also populist shows like Jerry Springer - the Opera, then why cannot our galleries do likewise? It is the same taxpayer paying for both. It is not impossible to imagine that in 100 years time Jack Vettriano will be among the most remembered, if not most revered, artists of his era. It would be a shame if all his works were in private collections.